Active Member

Well-Known Member

I saw a huge rat in my backyard this morning.. woulda blasted it but it got away.. I hate rats.
I've of course got rat and whatnot traps but don't really like using them as they generally kill birds.. I might toss some rat food into the ivy though.
I gather that many of the "survivalists" carry a rat trap in their back pocket for catching a daily snack..

Jerk, Ammo ManufacturerSilver Supporter

I tend to prefer traps... rats and squirrels are fairly easy to catch with traps, and at the same time, my little terrier makes sport out of keeping the vermin in check (dogs are high on my list of "survival animals" and that includes smaller dogs, not just large hunting and guard dogs), poison may poison your dogs and cats as well.

As for insects, usually the only one I've ever had issue with are flies, for this I buy fly strips by the case.

Some years ago we moved the trashcans outside, and only keep a small can inside that's emptied nightly. As a consequence we have zero problems with ants and roaches. I don't even think I've seen a roach around here in 5 years, and while there are ants out in the yard, they never come near the house.

Bronze SupporterBronze Supporter

I have both traps and poison. I have found that traps catch the mice, but the poison gets carried back to their nest and kills the family. If you just use traps then the effectiveness is limited and you keep having a problem whereas poison is much more effective.

The downside of poison is you have to be very careful about pets getting to either the poison or the poison pest.

This goes for insecticides, herbicides and such too.

Neighbors had a new puppy dog that they let run around everywhere. One day they found it dead in its bed. Nobody knows for sure, but since this dog had a bad habit of picking up anything everything in its mouth, I suspect it got into something that was toxic to it, possibly something poison (my mice poison is inside my house so unless it got a mouse that crawled out, I don't think it got into my mice poison). There are poisonous mushrooms around here too.

AK's all day.

For SHTF?
Perhaps.
I would think that you'd want to catch anything you could rather than poison it.

Most pests in SHTF would be a nuisance at that point because we'd have bigger fish to fry.

I would however stock up on:
Peanutbutter
Rat & mouse traps as well as mole traps for SHTF. You can catch a variety of vermin using them.
(Moreso than just rats, mice and moles)

Rat traps can catch mice, but mouse traps are smaller and fit in tighter locations so Id have both.

Now, if you're contemplating using insecticides and rodenticide for "other purposes" you and the rest of us really shouldnt be talking about that on the web because you never know. But if you know how to concentrate enough active ingredient you can poison some of your food in the event someone robs you during SHTF.. But it'll taste funny and take a bit of it.

It takes a bit of rodenticide to kill a person though. A spokesman/owner of a rodenticide brand ate a block if his bait at every deminatration to show that it was semi safe. Lived to 70-80
(Acute exposure versus chronic)

The problem with poisons, insecticides and traps is that most of you guys dont know enough about pest control/application to be very effective. I do this for a living.
Its a skilled trade job like anything else and there is quite a bit of tricks to our trade.
Google and old wives tales are not your friend when it comes to effective pest control you need to have a professional with real life experiance answer your questions and show you the right way to do things.

The bad part about that, most folks with a trade skill dont work for free.
But at least you'll learn from someone who knows what they're doing.

PM me if you have any questions. I can give away some experience for free, but not all of it.

Well-Known Member

The reason I posted that if there is some kind of bad happens insect and rodent control would be a good idea. Helps with the spread of disease,fecal contamination etc.. Not tacticool like guns or freeze dries foods but most important, even in day to day life.

AK's all day.

The reason I posted that if there is some kind of bad happens insect and rodent control would be a good idea. Helps with the spread of disease,fecal contamination etc.. Not tacticool like guns or freeze dries foods but most important, even in day to day life.

Click to expand...

Hey, sorry! I wasn't dogging on you personally. Its usually the peanut gallery that comes up with very odd home remedies
(like windex and mayo)
That end up doing nothing beneficial for insect control
(they swore it controlled spider activity lol)

The by far BEST thing a person can do for rodent control is trap them out. This will provide a few benefits for SHTF, 1 allows you to trap small game (not only mice and rats but others) and thats not counting mole traps. Rat and mole traps can also be used as trip wires for a variety of two legged pests.
Second, the food attractant
(peanut butter)
Ideal for SHTF
Full of electrolytes (salt) and a semi complete chain of amino acids (protein, milk completes the other half, think canned milk for SHTF)
With the peanut butter it'll serve as a dual purpose, your extra food stores as well as an attractant for rodents to better entice them towards a trap. Only a little is needed because the pungent smell does most of the work, rats need a little more to see than mice.
Rats can become trap shy
(they are neophobic and scare easy and learn fast) so there is a process to it to be 100% effective. They can also develop an aversion towards bait AND teach their young not to go near it. (Trust me , we've had to fix other peoples mistakes) mice, makes no difference. They are as dumb as it gets. Its fairly easy work.

The other portion Id stock up on is screening material and expandable foam along with nails and a staple/staple gun. Seal any breaches in your Location. This will prevent future reinfestation.

As for insects, Id buy all the RUI
(Restricted use insecticides) I could right now. The current laws making them illegal to the public has somehow just gone away. YOU ALL can buy the "good stuff" now without an applicators license.
Go to Univar in portland and have at it, or even online.
(But the ODA and FED laws with the label are still set in stone, FOLLOW THEM to the letter until SHTF)
However, you may only use those chemicals on your own personal property as per ODA
(Oregon Department of Agriculture) law.

PM me for any details on what the better of the RUI insecticides are if you go that route.

Otherwise, stock up on GUI
(General use insecticides.)
Such as orthomax and the like as well as "seven" trackable powder.
(Granules, unless micro encapsulated are a waste of time)

Between the two GUI you can keep most structural damaging insects as well as defensive (yellow jackets, baldfaced hornets and massive honey bee colonies) at bay.
It mostly comes down to the application method, which is the trick to our trade and knowing where and how to apply the insecticide to the target pest/nest.

Member EmeritusSilver Supporter

Thanks for the lesson, ZA! We have had a pro treatment to wipe out a mouse infestation and I learned a lot from the technition too. I leave my rat traps permanently in place so they work pretty well. Actually have seen a rat run right over an unset one. I keep a lot of top of the line pellets on hand for vermin or hunting.

Jerk, Ammo ManufacturerSilver Supporter

As far as rodents, again, I prefer sticky traps in addition to the classic mechanical snap traps. As ZA points out, Rats are very neophobic, so use bait they are already after in the house, if they're after your grain stores (this is very common) mix up some of the grain into a thick dough with water and use that as a bait.

Glue traps are pretty much 100% provided the rat steps on it, mechanical traps leave a bit more chance. However it's important to have different types of traps so there's enough variety that one will get them.

Well-Known Member

A mole or more has been giving me grief. I do the grub killing stuff but way back when I did it, it was pretty wet/rainy.
Some old Norwegian.. (he's dead now though), years ago, gave me two ancient scissor traps (and some poison mole gas stuff).. no instructions and screw utoob action.
darn the moles

AK's all day.

A mole or more has been giving me grief. I do the grub killing stuff but way back when I did it, it was pretty wet/rainy.
Some old Norwegian.. (he's dead now though), years ago, gave me two ancient scissor traps (and some poison mole gas stuff).. no instructions and screw utoob action.
darn the moles

Well-Known Member

Great lol but no joy. Dirt was packed solid up against the asphalt shakes and the trap was all but impossible to find/retrieve (I had to be careful as I didn't know if it was still set). Did a utoob and turns out I set it upside down. Oh man. Re-set it fairly fair but that existing hole is way too big but it seems that that one just wants to die, one way or another. I'll keep you informed.
Baby steps here.. at least I know how to use the tongs though now... after I did the new set.

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